Forced to marry a murderous Mafia King
/1/118699/coverbig.jpg?v=1bf72c7e122ab2ea31302562a1751bd1)
His Defiant Mate: The Lycan King's Chosen Luna
I was waiting at the Registry Hall to formalize my mate bond with Gabe, my childhood sweetheart and the Alpha of our pack. He was thirty-two minutes late. When I finally found him in a private VIP lounge, his hands were buried in my cousin's hair, their lips locked together. Hailee was supposed to be my maid of honor. Instead of apologizing, Gabe looked me dead in the eye and used his Alpha authority to publicly reject me. The severing of our ten-year bond tore my soul apart, but the nightmare didn't stop there. My grandfather immediately called, demanding I clean up a mess Hailee had made. When I refused, he disowned me on the spot, froze every single one of my bank accounts, and stripped me of my family name. Within hours, my entire pack erased my existence, gleefully announcing Hailee as their new Luna. I had given my entire life to a family and a man who discarded me like worthless trash the second I became inconvenient. I was left broken, humiliated, and utterly penniless in the blink of an eye. But as I stumbled out of that sterile hall, a terrifyingly beautiful stranger stepped out of the shadows, radiating a primal power that made my knees weak. He was Caden Sinclair, the ruthless Lycan King, and he was dodging a forced political union of his own. "You need a shield. I need a wife. Marry me." Without hesitation, I signed the Eternal Vow.
Chapter 1
Audriana POV:
"I'm sorry, Ms. Sullivan, but Mr. Black's appointment was for half an hour ago."
The clerk's voice was polite, but his eyes held a pity I refused to acknowledge. I glanced at the sleek watch on my wrist. Thirty-two minutes. He was thirty-two minutes late.
"He's on his way," I said, my voice smoother than I felt. My stomach was a tight knot of cold dread.
I stepped away from the polished walnut desk, the scent of lemon cleaner and old paper filling my nose. The North American Inter-Pack Alliance Registry Hall was designed to be imposing, with its marble columns and vaulted ceilings, meant to impress upon werewolves the gravity of the contracts signed here. Today, it just felt cold.
The air conditioning ghosted across my bare arms, raising goosebumps. I unconsciously twisted the delicate silver chain bracelet on my wrist, a nervous habit I'd had since I was a child. The tiny links were cool against my skin.
My phone buzzed in my clutch. A message from my assistant, Maya.
'Apex Ventures deal is ready for your final review. They're getting antsy.'
I typed a quick reply, my fingers flying across the screen.
'Tell them to hold their breath. I'm handling something personal.'
Personal. That's what this was supposed to be. The final step. Gabe and I, registering our intent to bond, a formality before the ceremony that would tie our packs, our families, our futures together.
I closed my eyes for a second, focusing, trying to pull his scent from the air. It was a game we used to play as kids. I could always find him. That familiar, comforting scent of pine and damp earth.
But all I could smell now was a cacophony of strangers-stale coffee, cloying perfume, the metallic tang of anxiety from a dozen other wolves waiting in this sterile hall. A wave of nausea rolled through me. Something was wrong.
My phone buzzed again. Not a work message this time. An unknown number.
The message was short, brutal.
'VIP Lounge 3. He's waiting for you.'
My breath hitched. VIP Lounge 3. I knew the layout of this building. It was at the end of the private corridor, reserved for Alphas of significant standing. Gabe's father had used it last year to finalize a trade agreement.
My fingers tightened around my phone. It was a trap. A cruel joke. It had to be.
But the knot in my stomach pulled tighter, a cold, hard certainty.
I pushed open the heavy glass door that separated the main hall from the private corridors. The sound of the bustling hall was instantly muffled by the thick, plush carpet. My heels sank into the crimson pile with each step, silencing my approach.
As I moved down the hallway, a new scent cut through the sterile air.
Cherry blossom. Sickly sweet and artificial.
Hailee's scent.
My steps slowed. My heart, which had been hammering against my ribs, gave a painful lurch and then seemed to stop altogether. It couldn't be. She was my stepsister. She was supposed to be my maid of honor.
I reached the door. Room 3. It was heavy, dark redwood, and slightly ajar. Just a crack.
Through the gap, in the dim, intimate lighting of the lounge, I saw them. Two figures, tangled together on a leather sofa.
Gabe.
His hand was buried in her blonde hair, the same way he used to touch mine. Hailee's head was thrown back, her laughter a low, throaty sound that made my blood run cold.
The world narrowed to that sliver of a view. The sound of my own blood roaring in my ears drowned out everything else.
I didn't think. I acted.
My hand shot out and slammed the door open. It crashed against the interior wall with a sound like a gunshot.
They sprang apart, their faces a blur of shock and panic. Gabe scrambled to his feet, his shirt rumpled, his face flushed.
"Audriana! What the hell are you doing?"
Hailee, true to form, immediately dissolved into a picture of terrified innocence. She shrank behind Gabe, her eyes wide and already filling with tears. "Audri, it's not what it looks like."
A laugh escaped my lips, but it was a harsh, ugly sound. "Not what it looks like? You're half an hour late to our registration, and I find you with your tongue down my stepsister's throat. Please, Gabe. Enlighten me."
"You were following me?" he roared, his voice bouncing off the wood-paneled walls. He took a step forward, trying to use his Alpha presence to intimidate me, to make me shrink. It was a tactic that had stopped working years ago.
"Don't be stupid," I snapped, my voice like ice. "I can smell her on you. You reek of cheap perfume and betrayal."
Hailee let out a sob. "We couldn't help it! The bond... it's just so strong between us. We never meant to hurt you."
The bond. She dared to speak of the bond.
I ignored her, my eyes locked on Gabe. On the man I had loved since we were children. The man my wolf had recognized. The man who was supposed to be my future.
"Give me an answer, Gabe," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "A real one. Now."
He looked from my face to Hailee's tear-streaked one. She gave a little whimper and tugged on his arm, the perfect damsel in distress. And in that moment, I saw his decision. His jaw tightened. His eyes, which I once thought held the whole world, turned to stone.
"I, Gabe Black, Alpha of the Blackwater Pack," he began, his voice formal and loud, ringing with the ancient power of the rite.
The air in the room crackled. The words were a physical force, slamming into me.
"Reject you, Audriana Sullivan, as my mate."
Pain. It wasn't emotional. It was physical. A spear of white-hot agony that started in my chest and ripped through every nerve in my body. It felt like my soul was being torn in two. My breath was stolen from my lungs. My knees threatened to buckle.
I bit down on my lower lip, hard. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. I would not scream. I would not cry. I would not give them the satisfaction.
My fingernails dug into the soft leather of my clutch, the leather groaning under the pressure.
For a flicker of a second, I saw something in Gabe's eyes. A flash of regret. Of pain. But it was quickly smothered by the cold, hard wall of his decision. Hailee's hand was on his arm, a triumphant possessiveness in her touch.
I forced myself to stand taller, to straighten my spine, even as the world tilted around me. I met his gaze, and I let him see the abyss that had just opened between us.
I cleared my throat, my voice a raw, broken thing. But it was steady.
"I, Audriana Sullivan," I rasped, each word costing me a piece of my shattered soul, "accept your rejection."
The bond snapped.
It was a sound no one else could hear, but for me, it was a cataclysm. A final, brutal severing. The pain intensified for a blinding moment, then settled into a deep, hollow ache that I knew would never truly leave.
Behind Gabe, Hailee's lips curved into a small, victorious smile.
I looked at them, and in that moment, the labels fell away-fiancé, stepsister, family-until all that remained were two strangers, standing on the ruins of my life. Two pieces of trash I had found on the side of the road.
Worthless.
Without another word, I turned my back on the wreckage of my life. I walked out of the room, my steps even and measured, down the long, silent corridor, and away from the man who had just ripped my heart out of my chest.
/0/64169/coverbig.jpg?v=cc5525d690af1d165c9b564fef96690a)
FORCED TO MARRY A MAFIA
Isabella De Luca spent most of her life under the radar, quietly obeying the whims of the powerful maniac that was her father who was a mafia boss. She has always been a little princess in a golden cage. An ominous journey starts after she unwittingly gets the attention of the infamous Alessandro Ro
/0/51429/coverbig.jpg?v=0a3631defeb78e3381a856d23aef57ba)
Forced To Marry A Mafia Billionaire
"You don't matter to me, and you never will." He pushed me to the ground as I sobbed. "But here my dear, you're meant to please me. If your father had not come begging on his knees, I wouldn't be marrying you. So you better make this worth it or I'll have to kill you with my bare hands." He said, ca
/0/32729/coverbig.jpg?v=02e5d17b6d9848f76f3a904e6b9e7041)
Forced to marry a billionaire
Her ex-husband won $ 15 billion and then immediately divorced her. In the middle of the night, she dragged her suitcase out of the house, unexpectedly hitting Rick's car. He thought she was the woman his family arranged to seduce him, so he dragged her into the car. The following day, she returned h
/0/64992/coverbig.jpg?v=4e6bd4cdac000ac86dea5354a2aead22)
Forced To Marry
Scarlett Woods, a simple idealistic girl who was forced to get married to Xavier Knight, a billionaire and successful businessman. They were married under the circumstances that though they wished they couldn't back out from the marriage. What will happen when Scarlett will find out that the man s
/0/44839/coverbig.jpg?v=4d46ca5cc81ded20abcf437283c9fb2f)
Forced to Marry the Mafia Don
Amelie Pearce, born into one of the prominent crime families in Chicago, is a princess of the mafia renowned for her physical attractiveness. However, what many perceive as a blessing becomes her downfall when she is compelled to marry Gio Merante, in order to establish peace between two mafia dynas
/0/88295/coverbig.jpg?v=e7cd560896861bba421388795ffe2400)
Forced to Marry the Mafia Boss
Nevaeh never asked for that life. She was just trying to protect her little brother Clyde after their parents died. She's working like a dog for an abusive aunt and her sleazy, jobless husband. But when her uncle's debts caught up to him, Nevaeh was sold like property to strangers who made criminal
/0/53047/coverbig.jpg?v=dd98891d6762546cdf69b8ddd8804530)
Forced To Marry A Billionaire CEO
When the affair is revealed, Alisa is forced to face the breakdown of her marriage, while Zayyan is caught in doubt between his deep love for Vania and his responsibilities as a husband and father. Meanwhile, Vania feels trapped in a cycle of desire and regret. In the midst of a battle of hearts and
/1/107628/coverbig.jpg?v=667767bf3e3b28311963b3ac202674fd)
Forced to Marry a Gay Billionaire Boss
"Don't you want to see how manly your husband is, honey?" he whispered huskily, his voice tinged with seduction. Even in his madness, he licked the tip of her ear as he nibbled it gently. His breath was hot, and the tip of his tongue was rough, sending shivers down her spine. She tried to break fre
/0/50312/coverbig.jpg?v=261473fcda08a771c6ebce02ab8f7726)
A Mafia To Alpha King
Luciano Salvatore 'The Bullet' was born, raised, and comes from a long family line of serial killers. But he wants nothing to do with that legacy. The block that has made it impossible for him to run away from all of it is his uncle, Don Mauro. The most powerful drug lord and a serial killer who h
/0/62556/coverbig.jpg?v=cfd8274336d8cb58fb7bf85afe50536f)
Forced to Marry My Sister-in-law
Emily, who is a 25-year-old woman with a successful career in a design firm. She is very close to her brother, David, who is married to a woman named Sarah. Emily's parents had an accident and were critically injured. Due to their severe condition, Emily had to step in to handle the family's proble
/0/39916/coverbig.jpg?v=7c4353279c50e56401715a1a32dd1d3b)
I am Forced to Marry the CEO
“I will make you mine, no matter what.” Says the man who were staring at the sleeping girl beside him. Gabrielle Nicole is forced to marry the man named Ian James Adler one of the richest men in the world just to save her families company from bankruptcy. Will a forced marriage turn to somet
/0/50745/coverbig.jpg?v=20250129080043)
Bounded To A Mafia King
Her first day at college was such a hell that marked the beginning of different coils in her life. Her fate took over the night she had an encounter with the most hyped, fetishized, and adored male idol at Harvard University, one of the most prestigious institutions of all time. A huge jerk that cla
/0/73372/coverbig.jpg?v=129d11fc5caf06cf1d57611c0086b0a6)
Forced to marry the cruel billionaire
Emma had just buried her mother when Mason, her stepfather, surprised her with terrible news: "A man has bought you, and he's going to make you, his wife." Even before she can run away, she receives a severe blow, and when she wakes up hours later, she's in a giant house, marriage certificate in han
/0/76236/coverbig.jpg?v=45534e54ad36109b6f207435dbe4052f)
Forced to Marry the CEO's Son
At the age of nine, Cassandra watched her father disappear from their lives without a word, without a glance. Since then, her family had fought every day to survive, trapped in cruel poverty. Her mother, her sister, and she had to make do with little, their daily life a silent struggle to stay toget
/0/72592/coverbig.jpg?v=63f1ba50ac52b0ef584d5892103fdeab)
Forced To Marry, But Must Stay Hidden
Just because of a small incident during the village festival, Elara Mahesa suddenly had to marry a stranger-Kieran Aditya Ravindra. A massive misunderstanding occurred when the villagers found them in a suspicious situation inside an old storage house. Rumors spread quickly, and to protect Elara's h
/0/57435/coverbig.jpg?v=2f51ee0ee660808b44a5f6a826173cdf)
Forced to Marry the Wicked Werewolf Prince
"I, Alec Tawr of Lunar Crest pack, reject you, Elara Wildewood, of Lunar Crest pack," he utters, his voice cutting through the silence. The words sear into my soul, and my heart shatters, broken pieces scattering within me. The pain consumes me, wrapping its icy tendrils around my spirit. "Why?" I
/0/60614/coverbig.jpg?v=857ba3d8d197df54b1134b0185e532a1)
Forced To Marry My Pregnant Stepsister
My 18-year-old step-sister got pregnant before getting married. To cover up the scandal, my father set a trap for me and made me sleep with my step-sister. Then he forced me to wear the green hat (a Chinese idiom meaning to be cuckolded). I wanted to find out the truth, but my father pushed me in
/0/44138/coverbig.jpg?v=29c03872751b702b024d5df0920496d7)
FORCED TO MARRY THE CEO'S SON
"Continue like this until I make you suffer with me," he said. Ayana is forced to marry Rayyan, the son of the CEO of the world's largest textile company. Due to a misunderstanding, she must be entangled with that terrible man. It was so strange for Ayana to live a married life that she didn't expe
/0/83169/coverbig.jpg?v=fabeae420df38b227e2afca5e404d69f)
Daddy Forced Me To Marry My Bully
"It is my wish that you marry Hazel," my father said to me in his letter, and now I have to get married to my childhood nemesis. Hunter's life was turned upside down after the sudden death of his father, and things are made worse after it was revealed in his father's will that he had to get married
/0/96019/coverbig.jpg?v=b6bbd8a40d1a6db29b15cd30dbb02d72)
Forced to Marry The Arrogant Billionaire Heir
BLURB: Why, though? Why did he disappear all of a sudden? What truth do they need from me? What do they mean by only I will know about his disappearance? I need answers and their silence is killing me! ••••• A powerful business deal forces both Alexander and Hazel into an arranged marriage of co
